Reaching the bottom of the barrel: Coronavirus pandemic batters European wine production

 

It’s an ancient beverage turned cultural icon, so cherished in France that the legendary Victor Hugo once provocatively wrote: “God made only water – but man made wine”. Aside from being a staple at many family dinner tables, wine is also a massive European industry – and one that’s going through its own coronavirus-induced crisis. This in a sector that was already battling against 25% tariffs imposed by Donald Trump in 2019 that have seen exports slump.

Source: Reaching the bottom of the barrel: Coronavirus pandemic batters European wine production – Talking Europe

The nurse arrested during a demonstration in Paris will be tried for “contempt” and “violence”

The nurse arrested Tuesday during the Parisian defense demonstration of the public hospital came out of police custody Wednesday June 17 in the afternoon with a summons to the criminal court for September 25, announced on Wednesday the prosecution of Paris This 50-year-old woman, who will be tried for “contempt” and “violence without total interruption of work (ITT)” on a person holding public authority, admitted the facts during her police custody.

During her hearing, this 50-year-old nurse working at the Paul-Brousse hospital in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne) admitted that she threw stones at the police, according to a source familiar with the matter. ‘Agence France-Presse (AFP). But, she said, her anger was not directed at the police but at the state. She said she fell apart.

The nurse told, still according to this close source, the harshness of her profession, working days from ten hours to fourteen hours at the height of the epidemic of Covid-19, the death of twenty patients during this period, its presence with them, his fatigue and a positive serology to the virus. A support rally was held for 16 hours in front of the police station of the 7 th  arrondissement, where she had been placed in custody.

Highly shared videos on social networks

Questioned by the press on Wednesday after the Council of Ministers, the government spokeswoman, Sibeth Ndiaye, justified this arrest which “follows a jet of projectiles made by this lady”, she said, and ”  was carried out taking into account the previously known behavior” of this woman. She, however, declined to comment on the way in which the nurse was arrested, adding that the government condemned “firmly” the disorders caused by “thugs” and “black blocks” at the end of the Paris demonstration .

Several videos of the nurse’s arrest were taken up on social networks. We see a woman wearing a white blouse arrested unceremoniously by the police when scuffles broke out when the procession arrived on the Esplanade des Invalides. The nurse asked for her Ventoline, a medicine used by people with asthma.

Other videos show the same person throwing projectiles at the police a few minutes earlier. “A woman, a nurse by profession, was arrested for contempt and throwing projectiles at the police,” a police source told AFP on Tuesday.

“I was not there, and it appears, taking into account the images, that this arrest followed the criminal acts carried out by this lady,” repeated Ms. Ndiaye. “A police officer hit by one of these projectiles will file a complaint,” Wednesday said a police source.

The Prefecture of Police reported thirty-two arrests linked to these scuffles. Clashes between thugs and police also took place in Lille, on the sidelines of the procession in which the outgoing mayor, Martine Aubry (PS) participated, but also in Toulouse and Nantes.

Source: The nurse arrested during a demonstration in Paris will be tried for “contempt” and “violence”

Paris Match cover photo illustrates the insanity we are experiencing

View this post on Instagram

Manifestation des soignants : Farida, le visage de la colère. Un rassemblement s'est tenu mardi soir devant le commissariat du VIIème arrondissement, à Paris. Il réclamait la libération d'une infirmière, arrêtée quelques heures plus tôt en marge d'une manifestation des soignants qui a donné lieu à quelques échauffourées dans la capitale. Des images de l'arrestation de cette femme quinquagénaire, infirmière dans le Val-de-Marne, ont suscité la polémique sur les réseaux sociaux. Sur certaines d'entre elles on la voit être tirée au sol par un agent de police ou encore réclamer sa ventoline, un médicament utilisé par les personnes souffrant d'asthme, alors qu'elle est entourée de plusieurs policiers. Pourquoi cette manifestante en blouse blanche a-t-elle été arrêtée par les forces de l'ordre? Une source policière a fait savoir qu'elle avait été «interpellée pour outrage et jet de projectiles sur les forces de l'ordre». Sur des images de BFMTV, tournée quelques minutes avant son interpellation, on voit cette femme jeter des projectiles et faire des doigts d'honneur en direction des policiers. Soucieux de «rétablir la vérité» après cette arrestation, le syndicat indépendant des commissaires de police a diffusé cette vidéo de la chaîne d'info en continu sur Twitter. «La gentille infirmière, qui avait besoin de sa ventoline, et qui est présentée comme une victime de la police. Elle jetait des projectiles, juste avant son interpellation», a réagi le syndicat. «Un policier atteint par un de ces projectiles déposera plainte» mercredi, a fait savoir une source policière. A la fin de la manifestation, qui a réuni 18 000 personnes à Paris selon les chiffres de la préfecture de police, 32 interpellations liées aux échauffourées ont été réalisées par le police.⁣ Photos : @raphael_lafargue @abaca_press⁣ —⁣ #personnelsoignant #paris #parismatch

A post shared by Paris Match (@parismatch_magazine) on

End of Covid-19 lockdown serves up relief for Paris restaurants

Restaurant and cafe owners in Paris cheered their chance to get back to business Monday after the government said they could once again open their dining rooms, three months after being shut to blunt the coronavirus outbreak.

The sooner-than-expected reopening for the Paris region was announced by President Emmanuel Macron late Sunday, shortly before officials reported just nine COVID-19 deaths in the previous 24 hours — the lowest figure since March.

“The bulk of the epidemic is behind us,” Health Minister Olivier Veran said Monday, though he cautioned that “this doesn’t mean we can stop fighting the virus.”

Until now, restaurants in and around the capital could only serve clients on outdoor terraces, even as eateries in the rest of the country opened fully earlier this month.

Read More at FRANCE24: End of Covid-19 lockdown serves up relief for Paris restaurants